Meet Your Neighbors: Shannon

BELLE ON WHEELS: Next up in our series of HOMEGROWN introductions is Shannon, an earth mama from central Virginia who’s embarking on a whole new lifestyle with her clan. “My family is planning on making a major shift in the way we live,” she writes. “We are hoping to perhaps build a Tiny House (on wheels!) and spend a few years doing internships on various farms to learn more. We're not sure what the future holds, but we're on a new adventure.”

Though still in its early chapters, that adventure has already included some notable episodes, including: scoring a groovy sunshine-yellow pressure canner, ruthlessly decluttering, whipping up crabapple jelly from foraged fruit, and, last but certainly not least, home birthing.

But no woman—even the Robinson Crusoe of swashbuckling Virginia mamas—is an island, and there is one unconquered area in which Shannon could use your help: blackberry jam. Don’t let this HOMEGROWN specialty remain Shannon’s nemesis. Share tips, or even just a few words of encouragement, by posting a note below or giving Shannon a holler. In return, she’ll keep the HOMEGROWN flock posted on what happens next in her family's ongoing journey.

What is Meet Your Neighbors? Most of us spend a fair amount of time tending our online gardens, but it’s easy to forget there’s a real person behind every quiche recipe, chicken inquiry, and hoophouse design here on HOMEGROWN. Well, nuts to that! MYN gives us a chance to meet over the back fence and shake hands. (Or maybe hug? We’re huggers. But no pressure.)